Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Tops Saudi PIF With $29 Billion Deals

(Bloomberg) — Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. was the world’s most active sovereign wealth fund last year as it ramped up deal-making across everything from private credit to artificial intelligence.

That came as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which was the most active in 2023, slowed down spending and refocused on investing at home.

Mubadala deployed $29.2 billion in 2024, according to research consultancy Global SWF. That was 67% more than a year earlier and far out-paced the 7% wider growth in investments by sovereign funds globally.

Middle East sovereign wealth funds made up five of the top 10 most active global dealmakers for the second year in a row, according to the report. Two other Abu Dhabi-based funds, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and ADQ, were also on the list, alongside the PIF and Qatar Investment Authority. Those five funds invested $82 billion last year.

Yet it is Abu Dhabi’s sovereign funds that made up the vast bulk of the global index, illustrating the oil rich emirate’s more aggressive approach to using its financial firepower to become a global force across industries including finance, technology and life sciences. Sovereign funds controlled by the emirate invested over $57.6 billion last year, according to Global SWF.

Also Read: Abu Dhabi’s $1 Trillion Fund Rejigs Strategy to Speed Up Deals

The Saudi wealth fund deployed $31.6 billion in 2023 either directly or through subsidiaries. That dropped to around $20 billion last year.

PIF Governor Yasir Al Rumayyan said in October that the fund’s focus was shifting to the domestic economy as it looked to develop new industries and promote economic diversification.

Also Read: Saudi Fund’s Shifting Focus Hits Budgets on Some Projects

The Middle East is home to a raft of sovereign funds, which have become an increasingly prominent source of cash for international deals after a surge in energy prices in 2022 left most Gulf government budgets in surplus.

They have been increasingly looking to leverage that growing importance to get concessions from Wall Street firms including access to bigger and more lucrative opportunities. That’s reflected in average investment size for sovereign wealth fund deals in 2024 hitting $370 million, the highest in six years, according to Global SWF.

Singapore’s GIC Pte and Temasek Holdings Pte were also “significantly more active than in 2023,” when both funds had cut deployment by around 50% as they adopted a more cautious investment approach.

That helped drive up overall investment by sovereign funds to $136.1 billion, from $127 billion in 2023. Total assets controlled by sovereign wealth funds reached $13 trillion by the end of 2024, with much of that wealth concentrated in the oil rich countries of the Middle East.

Also Read: The $4 Trillion Gulf Funds and the Power Brokers Who Run Them

Developed markets remained the main focus for most global sovereign wealth funds, with Mubadala putting 85% of its deployed capital into them.

Sovereign funds also put less money into real estate and health care deals last year, while increasing allocations to infrastructure and technology.

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